The foundation building seeks to respect its surroundings, with the primacy of the mass over the span, fleeing from the mimesis that would lead to deceptive historicisms, showing its contemporary character.
Innumerable experiences converge in the biography of a plot where the different stages of history are arranged in successive strata. The proposal configures the contemporary stratum in continuity with the existing ones.
This continuity is achieved by understanding the foundation building as an access door, from the street capitulants to the San Pablo orchard, in which a series of paths delimit gardens with different atmospheres: an access garden, an aromatic garden, a garden to contemplate the archaeological remains … Some paths evoke the traceries of traditional architecture, repeating a geometry with angles of 90 and 135º that make reference to the octagon (so present in all Cordovan architecture), seeking to unite in a natural way the points of access to the garden, with a respectful similarity with the layout of the urban environment.
The foundation building seeks to respect its surroundings, with the primacy of the mass over the span, fleeing from the mimesis that would lead to deceptive historicisms, showing its contemporary character.
The building is understood as a piece between dividing walls with only two voids; the horizontal one allows you to be an intern and understand the foundation as a door, the vertical, with a patio that has proved to work so well in this city, generates a suggestive journey through history: from the ruins to the foundation that, from the top floor and understanding the roof as a third facade, will think of architecture that is to come.
The proposal is executed through a three-dimensional structure of reinforced concrete walls and slabs, thermally insulated from the outside. The interior spaces are finished with a range of materials, that have in common their white color, giving prominence to light and textures: the polishing of the stone, the satiny of the paintings, the sandblast finish of the connecting paths.
The building of the parking lot and the cafeteria will finish composing and expanding the Orive square, where architecture of different periods already coexists well. The zone of ephemeral activities will serve as an access to the block, from the street of the orchard of San Pablo.
